1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to optical fiber devices and methods, and in particular to improved techniques for reducing crosstalk in multicore fiber transmissions.
2. Background Art
Multicore fibers have been proposed as a way of scaling the capacity beyond the limits of single-core fibers. This type of innovation is significant, because current demand is driving systems towards fundamental limits, even assuming advanced modulation formats. In addition, multicore fibers are being researched for diverse applications where they offer improvements in cost, compactness, and the like.
Crosstalk is a potential disadvantage of multi-core relative to multi-fiber solutions. A requirement of low total crosstalk tends to put a limit on the density of cores, and thus the capacity scaling, as well as having an impact on the amount of signal processing and conditioning necessary to recover transmitted information. Design principles for achieving low crosstalk with low nonlinearity and/or loss are thus of great interest.